Abstract
The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a widely distributed bird species found throughout the world. Being a species which has close association with humans, they chiefly nest on man-made structures. Here we describe the materials used by the house sparrow for making nests along an urban to rural gradient. For the current study, we selected the Coimbatore to Anaikatty road (State Highway-164), a 27 km inter-state highway, which traverses along an urban core to rural outstretch of Coimbatore. Of the 30 nests observed, 15 nests were from the rural, 8 were from the suburban, and 7 were from the urban areas. The nests had two distinct layers, specifically the structural layer and the inner lining. In the current study, we identified 11 plant species, 2 types of animal matter, and 6 types of anthropogenic matter, including plastic pieces and fine rope. The amount of anthropogenic materials in the nest formation varied along the gradients. The usage of anthropogenic materials was high in urban areas (p<0.05) whereas it did not differ at the sub-urban regions (p>0.05). A gradual decrease in the usage of plant matter towards the urban area was noticed (p<0.05). This study explicitly documents the links between nest material usage along an urban to rural gradient, in a human associated bird.
Highlights
House sparrows are closely associated with human dominated landscapes (Summers-Smith 1988)
We describe the materials used by the house sparrow for making nests along an urban to rural gradient
We identified 11 plant species, 2 types of animal matter, and 6 types of anthropogenic matter, including plastic pieces and fine rope
Summary
Usage of Nest Materials by House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) Along an Urban to Rural Gradient in Coimbatore, India. 1,2,3Dhanya Radhamany*, 1,3,4Karumampoyil Sakthidas Anoop Das, 2Parappurath Abdul Azeez, 4Longying Wen and 1Leelambika Krishnan Sreekala. Published date: 17 August 2016 To cite this article: Dhanya Radhamany, Karumampoyil Sakthidas Anoop Das, Parappurath Abdul Azeez, Longying Wen and Leelambika Krishnan Sreekala. Kami menerangkan tentang bahan-bahan yang digunakan oleh burung ciak rumah untuk membina sarang sepanjang gradien kawasan bandar ke luar bandar. Kami telah memilih jalan Coimbatore ke Anaikatty (State Highway-164), satu jalan lebuh raya 27 km panjang, yang melalui satu kawasan bandar ke luar bandar di Coimbatore. Kami telah mengenal pasti 11 spesies tumbuhan, 2 jenis bahan haiwan, dan 6 jenis bahan antropogenik, termasuk kepingan plastik dan tali halus. Kajian ini telah menunjukkan perhubungan antara penggunaan bahan untuk membina sarang sepanjang gradien kawasan bandar ke luar bandar, untuk burung yang berkaitan rapat dengan manusia
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